Straight bab knitting machine



Aug. 25, 1953 K. w. WICKARDT STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 24, 1951 M127 M441 W/LKARDZ'INVENTOR.

Aug. 25, 1953 K. w. WICKARDT STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 24, 1951 Kmr w/u/ MCKHRDZ'INVENTOR- Patented Aug. 25, 1953 STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE Kurt Willi Wickardt, Liverpool, England, assignor to Hosemaster Machine Company Limited, Liverpool, England, a British company Application March 24, 1951, Serial No. 217,352 In Great Britain March 2'7, 1950 7 Claims.

The present invention relates to straight bar knitting machines, and is especially applicable to straight bar knitting machines for the knitting of full fashioned hosiery.

Such knitting machines usually embody a socalled hand-wheel shaft running longitudinally along the front of the machine and which is provided primarily to enable the operator to adjust the machine by hand. This shaft is continuously rotating whilst the machine is in operation and sometimes forms part of the main drive of the machine. Since this shaft is positioned at the front of the machine, its continuous rotation gives rise to the danger that an operator may be injured'thereby.

. Such knitting machines usually are provided with a so-called back stop to prevent operation of the machine in the reverse direction. It is, however, necessary from time to time during manual adjustment of the machine to operate the machine in the reverse direction and in the known machines of this type the back stop has to be rendered inoperative by hand to enable the machine to be reversed by the hand wheel shaft, and there is the danger that the operator may forget to restore the back stop into operative condition when re-starting the machine under its power drive.

-Accordingto the present invention the hand wheel shaft is clutchable and de-clutchable to and from the power drive so as to enable the operator to engage the shaft for manual adjustment of themachine and to disengage it so that during the normal operation of the machine this shaft can remain stationary.

The clutching means may consist of a slidable toothed gear wheel, or any other suitable means, but preferablythe clutching means is interlocked with the starting and stopping control of the machine to ensure that the machine must be stopped, or at least the power switched off, before the clutch is engaged, and also to ensure that the clutch must be disengaged before the machine can be started.

According to a further feature of the invention the hand-wheel shaft is clutchable and declutchable to and from the power drive so as to enable the operator to engage the shaft for manual adjustment of the machine and to disengage it so that during the normal operation of the machine the hand-wheel shaft can remain stationary, and the hand-wheel shaft is interlocked with the back stop of the machine to ensure that the back stop is taken out of action to enable the machine to be manually reversed when 2 the clutch is engaged, and also to ensure that the back stop is again put into an operative condition when the clutch is disengaged.

The invention can be applied to a Cottons pattent straight bar knitting machine. It is, however, understood that this invention can be applied to any type of knitting machine having a hand-wheel shaft towards the front of ,the machine.

The invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings which show, by way of example, an application of the invention to a Cottons patent straight-bar knitting machine. In the drawings- Fig. 1 is a sectional detail side elevation along the line II in Fig. 2,

Fig. 2 is a sectional detail plan view substantially along the line IIII in Fig. 1 showing parts in their relative position when the hand-wheel shaft is engaged, and

Fig. 3 is a detail view corresponding to Fig. 2 which shows the parts in their relative position when the hand-wheel shaft is disengaged.

In the drawings there has only been shown sufiicient detail of the parts of a knitting machine as will enable the present invention to be understood, and other parts which will be well known to those skilled in the art have been omitted for the sake of clarity.

Main cam shaft l0 carrying a plurality of cams II is journalled in bearings I2, [2 in framework members l3, l3 and gear wheel 14 solidly carried on the cam shaft meshes with gear wheel [5 freely mounted on stub shaft I6. Electric motor I! carried on supports [8 attached to tie bar [9 carries pinion 20 meshing with gear wheel 2| freely carried on stub shaft 16, and which is connected to gear wheel [5 through torque limit ing clutch 22.

Hand-wheel shaft 23 is freely carried in bearings in the framework members, I3, l3 and is free to rotate and is permitted a degree of 1ongitudinal movement, the extent of which is limited, for example, as will be subsequently described.

The framework members also carry, in bearings, starting rod 50 which may extend through the length of the machine.

The power drive to the machine is obtained from electric motor I! and is transmitted by means of intermediate gears 20, I5 to one main cam shaft IU of the machine.

The hand-wheel shaft 23 may extend over the full length of the machine and carries a number of hand-wheels such as 24 spaced over the length of the machine. One end of a gear support is loosely carried on the hand-wheel shaft between a collar 26 and a pinion 27, and the other end is slidably mounted on a stub shaft prcjecting from the frame E3 of the machine, which stub shaft carries loosely a gear wheel 29 which meshes with the pinion ll on the hand-wheel shaft 23. Intermediate gear 30 also carried on the stub shaft 28 is solid with gear wheel 38 and meshes with further intermediate gear 3! car ried on pin 32 attached to gear support 25 and which may be brought into or taken out of engagement with gear i l on the camshaft iii by lateral movement of the gear support 25 brought about by lateral or axial movement of the handwheel shaft 23. The gear support 25 carries an extension 35 beneath gear wheel 3i and an upwardly extending arm 35 bored to receive stub shaft 28. Movement of the gears 29 and 35 on the stub shaft 28 is thus brought about in one direction by gear support 25 and in the other direction by arm 36. Thus the entire hand-wheel shaft 23 together with the gears carried by the gear support has to be moved to the one side in order to bring it into engagement with the cam shaft. The extent of movement of the handwheel shaft 23 is limited by collars 33 and 3d on stub shaft 28 so that at the limit of travel in one direction gear support 25 abuts collar and at the limit of travel in the other direction arm 36 abuts collar 34.

The back stop of the machine consists of a pawl 31 pivotally mounted on pin 38 and which in its normal position can engage the teeth of gear [5. A pin 39 extending from the pawl is guided by an S-shaped slot in formed in a plate 4! which is held in frictional contact with one face of the gear 15 by means of a spring 42 so that the friction between the face of the gear and the plate tends to turn the plate M in the direction of rotation of the gear l5. In the normal operation of the machine, that is to say when intermediate gear is rotated in the forward direction, that is to say anti-clockwise as shown in Fig. 1, the plate t! is frictionally urged to a position in which the pawl is lifted out of engagement with gear 15, whereas any tendency for the gear i5 to be rotated in the opposite direction causes the s-shaped slot in the plate 4! to bring the end of the pawl 31 into engagement with teeth of the gear S5 at the slightest backward movement of this gear, thereby preventing any further backward movement of the machine.

A connecting rod 43 is pivoted to an upper extension M of the pawl 37 and supported near its front end by a bearing 45 fixed to the frame of the machine. The front end 46 of the connecting rod t3 carries a downwardly projecting pin passing through an inclined slot 49 formed in a plate 59, which is firmly connected to the aforesaid gear support 25 so that it takes part in any axial lateral movement of the gear support and hand-wheel shaft 23. By these means the awl 3'! is lifted out of engagement with the gear i5 when the hand-wheel shaft is displaced axially laterally of the machine to engage the hand-wheel shaft, i. e. in an upward direction, as seen in Fig. 1, thereby permitting the machine to be operated forwards or backwards when the hand wheel shaft is engaged. Any axial movement of the hand-wheel shaft in the opposite direction to disengage the hand-wheel shaft, however, will bring the pawl back into its working position above the gear i5, thus assuring that the back stop is always in its working position during the normal performance of the machine.

The starting rod 50 of the machine carries a lever which is connected by a connecting rod indicated by the chain dotted line 52, to a switch 55 adapted to interrupt the connections from the power supply line to the electric motor when the starting rod is rotated into one position. A lever 5% is pivoted to the framework member 13 at 55 and at its other end is pivoted to the end of lever 51 to form a toggle and co-operates with the plate 49- onthe gear support 25. In the off position of the starting rod and lever 5| as indicated by the full linesv in Fig. 1 and shown in Fig. 2', the plate can just pass underneath the lever, thereby preventing the starting rod and lever 5| from being rotated anti-clockwise as seen in Fig. 1 into the on or starting position as indicated at 5! and so preventing the starting of the machine while the hand-wheel shaft 23 is in engagement with the cam shaft. In the on" position of the starting rod and lever 5|- as-indicated at 5! and shown in Figv 3, the lever 54; is in such a place that the plate 49 hits this lever at the slightest lateral axial movement of the hand-wheel shaft 23 in the direction of engagement, thereby preventing the hand-wheel shaft from being brought into engagement with the cam shaft while the machine is running or while power is switched on to the motor.

I claim:

1. In a straight bar knitting machine for the knit ing of full fashioned hosiery, having a row of needles and other loop-forming elements cooperating with said needles for the manufacture of a knitted fabric, power drive means. including a mover, means for controlling the. startlng and stopping of said prime mover and movable into a position corresponding to the starting of said prime mover and into another position corresponding to the stopping of said prime mover, a cam shaft, means for connecting said cam shaft to said power drive means, a handwheel shaft, means for clutching and declutching said hand-wheel shaft to and from said power drive means and movable into a position corresponding to the engagement of said handwheel shaft with said power drive means and into another position corresponding to the disengagement of said hand-wheel shaft from said power drive means to enable an operator to engage said hand-wheel shaft with said power drive means for manual adjustment of the machine and subsequently to disengage it therefrom so that during normal operation of the machine said hand-wheel shaft can remain stationary, and connecting means between said starting and stopping controlling means and said clutching and declutching means to prevent said clutching and declutching means from being moved into said position corresponding to the engagement of said hand-wheel shaft with said power drive means except when said controlling means is in said position corresponding to the stopping of said prime mover and to prevent movement of said controlling means into a position corresponding to the starting of said prime mover except when said clutching and declutching means is in said position corresponding to the disengagement, of said hand-wheel shaft from said power drive means.

2. In a straight bar knitting machine for the knitting of full fashioned hosiery, having a row of needles and other loop-forming elements cooperating with said needles for the manufacture of a'knitted fabric, power drive means including a prime mover, means for controlling the start-f ingandstopping of said prime mover and movable into a position corresponding to the starting of said prime mover and into another position corresponding to the stopping of said prime mover, a cam shaft, means for connecting said cam shaft to said power drive means, back-stop means to prevent unintended backward movement of said cam shaft, a hand-wheel shaft, means for clutching and declutching said handwheel shaft to and from said power drive means and movable into a position corresponding to the engagement of said hand-wheel shaft with said power drive meansand into another positioncorresponding to the disengagement of said hand-wheel shaft from said power drive means to enable an operator toengage said hand-wheel shaft with said power .drive means for manual adjustment of the machine and subsequently to disengage it therefrom so that during normal operation of the machine said hand-wheel shaft can remain stationary, means for moving said back-stop means from an operative position to an inoperative position, connecting means between said back-stop moving means and said clutching and declutching means to cause said back-stop to be moved into an inoperative position when said clutching and declutching means is moved into said position corresponding to the engagement of said hand-wheel shaft with said power drive means, and to cause said back-stop means to be moved into an operative position when said clutching and declutching means is moved into said position corresponding to the disengagement of said hand-wheel shaft from said power drive means, and connecting means between said starting and stopping controlling means and said clutching and declutchingmeans to prevent said clutching and declutching means from being moved into said'position corresponding to the engagement of said hand-wheel shaft with said power drive means except when said controlling means is in said position corresponding to the stopping of said prime mover and to prevent movement of said controlling meansinto a position corresponding to the starting of said prime mover exceptwhen said clutching and declutching means is in said position corresponding to the disengagement of said hand wheel shaft from said power drive means.

3. In a straight bar knitting machine for the knitting of full fashioned hosiery, having a row of needles and other loop-forming elements cooperating with said needles for the manufacture of a knitted fabric, power drive means including a prime mover, switch means. for controlling the starting and stopping of said prime mover, a startingrod. for operating said switch means and movable into a position corresponding to the starting of said prime mover and into another position corresponding to the stopping of said prime mover, a cam shaft,- said starting rod extending over at least part of the length of the machine, means for connecting said cam shaft to said power drive means, a handwheel shaft extending over at least part of the length of the machine and displaceable longitudinally of the machine, means for clutching and declutching said hand-wheel shaft to and from said power drive means in response to longitudinal movement of said hand-wheel shaft and movable into aposition corresponding to the engagement of said hand-wheel shaft with said power drive means and into another position corresponding to the disengagement of said handwheel shaft from said power drive meansto enable an operator to engage said hand-wheel shaft with said power drive means for manual adjustment of the machine and subsequently to disengage it therefrom so that during normal operation of the machine said hand-wheel shaft can remain stationary, at least one lever displaceable in accordance with movement of said starting rod, a plate adapted for movement longitudinally of the machine in accordance with longitudinal movement of the hand-wheel shaft, said lever co-operating with said plate to prevent said clutching and declutching means from being moved, by longitudinal movement of 'said handwheel shaft, into said position corresponding to the engagement of said hand-wheel shaft with said power drive means except when said starting rod is in said position corresponding to the stopping of said prime mover and to prevent movement of said starting rod into a position corresponding to the starting of said prime mover except when said clutching and declutching means has, by longitudinal movement of said hand-wheel shaft, been moved into said position corresponding to the disengagement of said hand-wheel shaft from said power drive means.

4. In a straight bar knitting machine for the knitting of full fashioned hosiery, having a row of needles and other loop-forming elements cooperating with saidneedles for the manufacture of a knitted fabric, power drive means including a prime mover, means for controlling the starting and stopping of said prime mover and movable into a position corresponding to the starting of said prime mover and into another position corresponding to the stopping of said prime mover, a cam shaft, means for connecting said cam shaft to said power 'drive means and including a toothed gear wheel rotatable in synchronism with said cam shaft, a pawl adapted to engage the teeth of said gear wheel, a friction plate, means to press said friction plate into frictional contact with one face of said gear wheel so as to tend to rotate it in the direction of ro-' tation of said gear wheel, means connecting said pawl and said friction plate adapted to urge said pawl into and out of engagement with the teeth of said gear in response to the direction of rotation thereof, a hand-wheel shaft displaceable longitudinally of the machine, means for clutching and declutching said hand-wheel shaft to and from said power drive means in response to lon-' gitudinal movement of said hand-wheel shaft and movable into a position corresponding to the engagement of said hand-wheel shaft with said power drive means and into another position correspondingto the disengagement of said hand-wheel shaft from said power drive means to enable an operator to engage said hand-wheel shaft with said power drive means for manual adjustment of the machine and subsequently to disengage it therefrom so that during normal operation of the machine said hand-wheel shaft can remain stationary, an element displaceable with longitudinal movement of said hand-wheel shaft, an element connected to said pawl for moving said pawl into an inoperative position wherein it cannot engage the teeth of said gear wheel and connecting means between said elements whereby to cause said pawl to be moved into said inoperative position when said clutching and declutching means is moved, by longitudinal movement of said hand-wheel shaft, into said position corresponding to the engagement of said hand-wheel shaft with said power drive means to permit reverse operation of the machine when being adjusted by means of said hand-wheel shaft, and to permit said pawl to be moved from said inoperative position to prevent reverse operation of the machine when said clutching and declutching means is moved, by longitudinal movement of said handwheel shaft, into said position corresponding to the disengagement of said hand-wheel shaft from said power drive means, and connecting means between said starting and stopping controlling means and said clutching and declutching means to prevent said clutching and declutching means from being moved into said position corresponding to the engagement of said hand-wheel shaft with said power drive means except when said controlling means is in said position corresponding to the stopping of said prime mover and to prevent movement of said controlling means into a position corresponding to the starting of said prime mover except when said clutching and declutching means is in said position corresponding to the disengagement of said hand-wheel shaft from said power drive means.

5. In a straight bar knitting machine for the knitting of full fashioned hosiery, having a row of needles and other loop-forming elements cooperating with said needles for the manufacture of a knitted fabric, power drive means including a prime mover, switch means for controlling the starting and stopping of said prime mover, a rotatable starting rod for operating said switch means and movable into a position corresponding to the starting of said prime mover and into another position corresponding to the stopping toothed gear wheel rotatable in synchronism with said cam shaft, a pawl adapted to engage the teeth of said gear wheel, a friction plate, means to press said friction plate into frictional contact with one face of said gear wheel so as to tend to rotate it in the direction of rotation of said gear wheel, means connecting said pawl and said friction plate adapted to urge said pawl into and out of engagement with the teeth of said gear in response to the direction of rotation thereof, a hand-wheel shaft extending over at least part of the length of the machine and displaceable longitudinally of the machine, means for clutching and declutching said hand-wheel shaft to and from said power drive means and movable, in response to longitudinal movement of said hand-wheel shaft, into a position corresponding to the engagement of said handwheel shaft with said power drive means and into another position corresponding to the disengagement of said hand-wheel shaft from said power drive means to enable an operator to engage said hand-wheel shaft with said power drive means for manual adjustment of the machine and subsequently to disengage it therefrom so that during normal operation of the machine said hand-wheel shaft can remain stationary, a plate adapted for movement longitudinally of the machine in accordance with longitudinal movement of said hand-wheel shaft, an inclined slot in said plate, an element connected to said pawl for moving said pawl into an inoperative position wherein it cannot engage the teeth of said gear, a pin extending from said element into said slot in said plate whereby to cause said pawl to be moved into said inoperative position when said clutching and declutching means is moved, by longitudinal movement of said hand wheel shaft, into said position corresponding to the engagement of said hand-wheel shaft with said power drive means to permit reverse operation of the machine when being adjusted by means of said hand-wheel shaft, and to permit said pawl to be moved from said inoperative position to prevent reverse operation of the machine when said clutching and declutching means is moved, by longitudinal movement of said hand-wheel shaft, into said position corresponding to the disengagement of said hand-wheel shaft from said power drive means, at least one lever displaceable in accordance with rotation of said starting rod, said lever co-operating with said plate to prevent said clutching and declutching means from being moved, by longitudinal movement of said handwheel shaft, into said position corresponding to the engagement of said hand-wheel shaft with said power drive means except when said start? ing rod is in said position corresponding to the stopping of said prime mover and to prevent movement of said starting rod into a position corresponding to the starting of said prime mover except when said clutching and declutching means has, by longitudinal movement of said hand-wheel shaft, been moved into said position corresponding to the disengagement of said hand-wheel shaft from said power drive means.

6. In a straight bar knitting machine according to claim 2, a toothed gear wheel on said cam shaft, a second gear wheel rotatable in synchronism with rotation of said hand-wheel shaft and means to move said second gear wheel into and out of meshing engagement with said first gear wheel in accordance with longitudinal movement of said hand-wheel shaft.

7. In a straight bar knitting machine according to claim 5, a toothed gear wheel on said cam shaft, a further gear wheel rotatable in synchronism with rotation of said hand-wheel shaft and means to move said further gear wheel into and out of meshing engagement with said gear wheel on said cam shaft in accordance with longitudinal movement of said hand-wheel shaft.

KURT WILLI WICKARDT.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,053,250 Cilley Sept. 8, 1936 2,178,591 Lieberknecht Nov. 7, 1939 2,363,535 Lambach Nov. 28, 1944 

